SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australia's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in June from the record low of 4.2 percent in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Thursday.
The market was expecting the jobless rate to have stayed at 4.2 percent last month.
The ABS said that on a seasonally adjusted basis the number of people employed had increased by 2,500 to 10.460 million. The consensus forecast was for a much bigger rise of 15,000.
Full-time employment decreased by 34,300 to 7.495 million, while part-time employment rose by 36,900 to 2.964 million.
The number of people looking for work increased by 8,200 to 472,000. Of these, the number looking for full-time work rose by 4,400 to 330,600, while those looking for part-time jobs increased by 3,800 to 141,400.
The participation rate dipped to 64.9 percent last month from 65.0 percent in May.
The ABS provided the following table:
June 2007 May 2007
Seasonally Adjusted
Jobless rate 4.3 pct 4.2 pct
Employed 10.460 mln 10.457 mln
Unemployed 472,000 463,800
Full-time employed 7.495 mln 7.530 mln
Part-time employed 2.964 mln 2.928 mln
Participation rate 64.9 pct 65.0 pct
Trend
Jobless rate 4.3 pct 4.3 pct
Employed 10.455 mln 10.438 mln
Unemployed 468,500 472,700
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